How Abilities Work

This chapters goes into the details of your characters’ supernatural abilities. We’ll discuss them with an eye toward both stealthy and combative methods of gameplay.

Abilities are purchased with Runes. You collect these on their own or from Outsider Shrines as you explore the game world. There are quite a few of these items, but you can’t unlock everything in Dishonored 2 in a single playthrough. Instead, you have to make tricky choices about what you need the most. This crafts a build that enhances a given style of play.

If you’re a stealth person, for instance, don’t waste Runes on aggressive combat abilities like Blood Thirst. Instead, focus on abilities that allow you to safely and easily avoid your enemies without getting their attention.

Shared abilities are common to Corvo and Emily. They function the same way and provide the same bonuses. Unique abilities for each character make their styles of survival inherently a bit different. Both can be stealthy or combative, but they do it in novel ways.

Once you have Runes, go into the Powers menu and look at everything your character can learn. Each has a cost between one and six Runes, so you often have to save up for the more powerful choices. Use these Runes to unlock the abilities you like the most, and always save the game before you do this. After trying out an ability, you might find it isn’t much to your liking. When that happens, back up and use a previous save to try another purchase.

All abilities have secondary aspects that cost additional Runes. These secondary bonuses make the ability stronger and more versatile. It’s usually best to have only a few abilities unlocked with as many bonuses as you can get. Trying to grab all the abilities at once leaves you underpowered.